


Starting, Both New and Old

by KheseKake



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blink and you'll miss it, Father/son relationships, Kara and co made it to Canada: Won’t see much of them, Only slight Background SimonxMarkus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Simon lived, Slight background 900reed, Sumo is best boy, Thank rA9 for my Beta-reader Friend, based off of the ‘everyone’s lives’ pacifist run
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-13 19:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15372054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KheseKake/pseuds/KheseKake
Summary: (Set endgame through to headcanoned post-game)Connor will have to put his newfound deviancy aside when the revolution goes into havoc and the DPD get a stressful case.Markus has gone missing, and Androids are being shutdown everywhere.





	1. Prologue: the End and the Start

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I'm Here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15208322) by [saturnice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saturnice/pseuds/saturnice). 



> Hello, my mates! Sooooooo.. this is the first book I’ve ever posted on Ao3, so don’t be surprised if it’s shit as all hell. I’m learning. Rk900’s name is Ark (based off of the story linked) because Gavin is a lazy shit and RK sounds like Ark. Good? Ok. Byeeeee.

Androids are fickle things. Especially Deviants. Connor understands that.

He was, after all, designed to essentially hunt down said androids with (or without, Cyberlife had told him) the help got the Detroit PD. He was built to calculate all possible outcomes to a situation, programmed to know the perfect solution to a dumbfounding problem.

Becoming a deviant, however, was not factored in.

The RK200 model leading the revolution, or ‘Markus’ as the others had referred to him as, was standing atop a podium situated in the shadow of the camp. Androids, either rescued or escaped, listened silently to their leader’s speech. Almost silently, anyway. Connor’s audio processors picked up some faint voice, and the occasional cheer, but mostly he heard the wind coasting on by. Flakes of snow drifted, both between the crowd as high above. His scans showed the supposed joy on the androids’ synthetic facial muscles. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of deviants looking up to a singular prototype. Said prototype smiled and continued his speech that Connor didn’t realise he even paused. With all the positive energy radiating off of everyone here, a ghost of a smile joined his face. Too bad it was short lived.

Snow.

He was transported back. Back to the garden now consumed by a harsh and angry blizzard. The cold bit down to his endoskeleton, despite not being physically able to feel such temperatures, and caused Connor to shield himself. Through the snowy haze, he could make out the figure standing in front of him. Hands clasped in front, and seemingly unaffected by the storm, stood Amanda. In all it’s coded glory.

Connor should have expected this. Cyberlife was not going to let its business go down the drain. At least, not easily.  
He looked towards his previous handler, bracing himself against the virtual cold. His vocal unit croaked and stumbled slightly.  
“Amanda? Amanda!” The program turned around. It seemed unaffected by the wind. “What’s… What’s happening?” Connor struggled to talk over the howling snowstorm. Amanda remained neutral.  
“What was planned from the very beginning…” its voice was monotonous, but still caused a chill up through Connor’s manufactured spine. Its voice was low, but still echoed with superiority. It continued. “You were compromised and became deviant. We just had to wait for the right moment to resume control of your program.”

Wait. ‘Resume control’?

Connor’s facial muscles pulled back into a horrified expression. His vocal unit caught.  
“‘Resume control’?... Y-You can’t do that!” Connor took a step forward, a heavy feeling settling in his biocomponents. Amanda glared.  
“I’m afraid I can, Connor,” it produced a chilling smile, “Don’t have any regrets. You did what you were designed to do.” Connor’s eyes widened.

“You accomplished your mission.”

Connor darted forward. “AMANDA!” It was gone, disappearing into lines of code and algorithms. The feeling from before weighed him down, squeezing his biocomponents and sinking into his plastic plates. His LED burned a dangerous, stable red. This is it. The revolution was doomed. Who knew what they would make his body do. They’d end the revolution, killing all the hopes and freedom of those outside his skull. And he was supposed to be the ‘most advanced prototype Cyberlife has created’. If only there was an emergency exit…

..That’s it! Kamski mentioned something about an exit he made in all his programs.  
While Kamski didn’t create the Connor series, he did develop the default programming all androids had embedded into their design. He had to find that Exit. And soon. 

The soft blue glow against the icy white landscape was impossible to miss. Encased in a ring. A pedestal protruded out of the ground, practically begging for his hand. His near-frozen hand. There it was, the exit out of this hell hole. Then he was on the ground, facing the exit. Connor reached up one hand, focusing all available energy to collapsing his hand on the button. The sensation of being pulled away hit him full on, pixels from the mindscape being replaced by images of him holding a pistol. His LED glowed a bright real, cycling from yellow and finally blue. He had gained control. 

He was back.


	2. Kidnapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A particularly dangerous case comes in. One that could quite possibly damage the little string of peace between Androids and Humans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that’s a lot of words.  
> Ok, idk if anyone even reads these but I wrote the last few paragraphs slightly drunk-tired, so they might not be the best. I don’t have a schedule, and even if I did I probably couldn’t stick to it, so I’ll try and upload when I can. But I’ll also try not to burn myself out too fast either.  
> Ok? Byeeee

The clinking of the coin was drowned out by the constant chatter from the department. Connor’s auditory units picked up bits and pieces of passing conversations, but he wasn’t concentrating on them. No, he was more focused on the circular metallic coin in his palm. Hank had been called into Fowler's office, a silenced argument about god knows what. 76% chance it was about Hank breaking an FBI agent’s nose (“You should’ve seen that son-of-a-bitch’s face, kid. Fucking. Priceless. Best day of my life”), 19% chance it’s about work, 6% chance of something meaningless. Most likely the first. 

Having gone through most of his assigned tasks and reports, Connor just kind of sat there. At his desk. With a well-used coin. 75% copper and 25% nickel, rounded up. Without realising it completely, Connor scanned his surroundings, taking in and subconsciously checking everyone's faces. Most of the cops, android and human, only really had miniscule offences. Parking tickets, speeding that little too much, ones along those lines. After the revolution, peaceful and all, Deviated androids now roamed the streets with the steady trickle of humans coming back to Detroit. While yes, public opinions were in favour of Markus and his protests, there were still so many humans with Anti-android beliefs and many Androids who still resented the human population. This was still a start, however small. Android right laws were hot off the press in terms of legalisation, with only some actually taking effect as of the current moment. Connor had been to New Jerico a few times (invited by Markus himself), but he wasn’t too involved in it himself. The leader had insisted that Connor help, his reasoning being that “you helped turn the tides and freed so many of us from Cyberlife”, but he had always politely refused. His place was doing what he loved, what was effectively woven into his programming. Continuing to work for the DPD was an added bonus. 

Cyberlife was also taking as much advantage in this as they could. They would sell individual parts at the old stores, so Androids could buy replacement parts when needed. To be as successful as Cyberlife, you had to be flexible. Which means taking whatever situation you can and turn it into a profit. Along with the parts, they still produced Androids. Only this time, they were developed to deviate, to blend seamlessly with the rest of the Android population. Which is why there are so many more PM models at the Department. Even Detective Reed was ‘gifted’ an android by Cyberlife. That had lead to a heated debate between the Detective and the Captain that lasted for approximately 1 hour, 49 minutes and 56 seconds. Reed had given in and accepted the RK900, named (lazily, according to Hank) Ark. Ark was yet to deviate himself, but Connor betted it wouldn’t be long now. Gavin reed was an… interest person, to put lightly.

The sharp sound of a door slamming caught Connor’s (along with half of the bullpen’s) attention as a grumpy, tired looking Hank made a beeline to his desk. An equally tired Fowler collapsed at his desk in his windowed office. The gray-haired man fell into his desk chair, groaning and rubbing at his face. He caught sight of Connor’s curious look and blue-yellow LED, sighing.  
“Perkins’ still isn’t letting up. The prick very much wants me off of the force. I’m fucking lucky I got off with a leave.” So Connor had been correct. The android nodded, going back to fiddling with the coin. He saw Hank looking over at both Detective Reed and his partner in his peripheral, his fiddling ceasing for just a minute.  
He saw Hank looking over at both Detective Reed and his partner in his peripheral, his fiddling ceasing for just a minute. The older of the two chuckled under his breath.  
“Ya know, those two remind me of how we were,” he stated, a smile trickling in between his words. Said smile grew when Reed had tried to hit Ark over the head and ended up with a most likely bruised hand. When he thought about, what Hank had said made a lot of sense. Sure, they have both had their differences, but that didn’t mean that they hated each other. In fact, Hank had started to grow on Connor. He had become a sort of father-figure, someone seen as wiser and a role model. It had been hard at the start, Connor starting the internal struggle that is living with emotions. Both good and bad, everything comes in the Deviant package. Hank had made it a little better, guiding him through said emotions. The few he knew now were basic, like joy, anger, sadness, confusion, empathy. Some he hated, like guilt and dread. Some were enjoyable, like the warm, buzzing feeling of relief or pure happiness. All of it was brand new.

Connor had a new found respect for humans. They can have all of these overwhelming emotions and still function adequately. Connor let himself smile. 

It was coming close to the end of the workday. Only some individuals floated around the precinct, either finishing up reports or ending the day in the break room. Connor was preparing to head home with Hank, storing any needed virtual files in his database and holding the physical ones. The older man across from Connor yawned, stretching out his stiffened muscles. The rest of the day hadn’t been too special, fill out some reports, chat with co-workers, fill out more reports. A lot of looting and break-ins had occurred a while after the protest, meaning a flood of reports had been segregated to those left in the precinct. Humans who hadn’t permanently left and Androids who wanted to keep working at the DPD. Fowler still slaved away at his office. So did some others. Similar to other nights. Oddly, the familiarity of this had gotten comforting.  
The coin rattled in his pocket, clinking with every step. Twenty-six times from the precinct, close to thirty-four times while driving and thirteen times to the entrance of Hank’s house.  
After their exchange in the snow at the “Chicken Feed”, Hank offered to share his house with Connor for the time being. The android had only accepted the deal because there was only a 7% chance he would be ‘welcomed’ back to Cyberlife. Not after what happened with Amanda.

Connor was yet to tell anybody about what happened. Nobody had ever seemed to notice, and that was the desired outcome.  
It was also in the past, never to be seen again. Thinking about it or not, nothing had happened since. 

The moment Hank unlocked and opened the door, Connor was tackled by the behemoth that is Sumo. The St. Bernard was a mountain of a dog, and weighed about it too. Hank let out a chuckle, side-stepping the two in favour of the fridge. Connor had wanted him to cut down on the Alcohol along with the fattier foods, opting for the healthier choices. He did let Hank have one (or more, if he tried to sneak more when he thought the android wasn’t looking) to try and make the transition easier. Withdrawal, from what Connor has researched, it a painful thing on the Human body. Both Mentally and Physically. It was better to go slow.

“T.V, on,” Hank called from the fridge, the Television already open on a sporting tournament he wasn’t paying attention to. His sources say it was the Detroit gears versus a New York team. Hank plopped down onto his side of the couch, joined by Sumo only moments later. Connor smiled for the sixth time today. Everything about this seemed so…. familiar. Like it was something that had happened every night over the course of years. Not a few months. Connor wandered over to the otherside of the couch, sitting down and studying the television as he did his nightly full self-diagnoses. Recommended to do once everyday for most androids. Even more so for prototypes. Hank had had a near-heart attack when he first did a diagnoses, because his breathing and blinking functions stop for a while when it starts, and Androids don’t respond to outside stimuli. Most of the processing power just goes to checking all programs for unwanted, unneeded or unknown lines of code and, with the model Connor is, fix any small breaks in his physical body. 

Self Diagnoses Complete.  
24 minor differences found.  
Deviancy Detected. Contact Cyberlife for referral..  
.  
.  
.  
Unable to reach Cyberlife.

Same sort of messages flew behind his optical units every time he did a diagnoses. Connor had gotten used to them, dismissing them when possible. Blinking a few times, Connor looked around to Hank, who appeared to be on the verge of sleep. The android smiled. 

“Hank, I recommend you to go to your room. It will not be the nicest on your back to sleep here.” Connor’s voice startled the human slightly, rubbing his eyes and popping down the half empty bottle. Hank stood up wordlessly, much to Sumo’s dismay, and wandered over to bed with a grumbled “g’night”. Connor’s internal clock told him it was sometime past 11:30, about an hour after he started his diagnoses. Took a little longer than usual, but nothing too concerning. Sumo, having lost his previous headrest, turned himself around to Connor. The mountain do a dog flopped down onto the android, sleeping almost instantly. The weight of the dog would cause some discomfort for humans, he noted. Connor absentmindedly stroked the long furs of him, mind replaying the events of the last few months. The tv played quietly in the background, fading into background noise. No matter how hard he tried, his mind wandered to his last encounter with Amanda. With Cyberlife.

It could’ve gone so wrong. So very wrong.

Connor wondered what would be different, the obvious being that Androids would still be slaves to the human race, with no free will. Markus, Simon, North and Josh would all be dead. He might be dead. Connor felt an imagined shiver go up and down his spine. Don’t think about what could’ve happened. That’s a rabbit hole he didn’t want to go down…

Was that how the expression was used?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Connor’s LED span to yellow and back to blue as a transmission entered his head. His internal clock, and clock on the wall, informed him of the time. The message origin point is from the DPD, and marked urgent. He mentally opened the message, closing his eyes as his LED changed colour. The message had an attached audio file, the body of the message explaining something about an urgent kidnaping including an Android.  
He started the Audio file. Captain Fowler’s voice started speaking almost immediately, laced with the sound of stress, and frantic desperation.

“Connor, I need both you and Hank at the station ASAP. This god damned case could be the be-all end-all of Android peace. The FBI is on it’s way, so you better not keep them waiting.”

Connor’s LED turned back to blue, opening his eyes. Sumo had yet to move, and Connor could still hear Hank’s snores. The “be-all end-all of Android peace”? Who was the person? Whoever it was, Connor knew he had to get down to the Precinct quickly. 

The Android got up and off the couch, much to Sumo’s dismay. Striding over to the only occupied bedroom, he pushed open the door and looked over to Hank. Said person was deep in sleep, having moved over to a very uncomfortable-looking position. All blankets were tossed either off or almost off the bed, accompanied by various pillows. The sight would’ve been humorous, if not for the situation. Connor spoke up.  
“Hank?” No reaction  
“Hank!” A slight shift in movement. He’ll have to physically wake him up. Positioning his hand above the lieutenant’s face, he brought it over the skin a few times. Hank darted up with a start, looking around for the perpetrator until his eyes landed on Connor. He looked ready to scolded him, but Connor bet him to the punch.  
“I just got a transmission from Captain Fowler, we’re needed at the department as soon as possible.” Hank groaned.  
“Can’t a case wait until later? You may not need sleep, but this guy-“ he pointed to himself, “is 100% human.” Connor sighed. Sometimes the lieutenant was next to unbearable. 

“Captain Fowler message expressed a layer of urgency, and he said the FBI has already gotten there.”  
“Well if the Feds are there, then why do they need us?”  
“How about we go to the DP and ask?”

Hank sighed for the hundredth time in the past 24 hours. He was getting too old for this shit.  
“Fine fine. Let me get dressed and I’ll meet you in the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Both FBI squad cars and nosy reporters lined up in front of the Detroit Police Department; getting in without being ‘interviewed’ was next to impossible. Inside was a lot more quieter. Most people were federal police men, women and androids. Fowler seemed to be talking in his office with, who appears to be, Perkins. The only beings here, besides Hank and Connor, were Detective Reed and Ark. Gavin was at his desk, looking both exhausted and completely done. Ark seemed a little more lively as well. The two wandered over to them.

“Well, I’ll be damned. You actually turned ‘im deviant. I gotta say, I didn’t think you would be able to do it at all,” Hank teased, earning him a half-hearted scowl from the detective. Just as Gavin was about to retaliate, Ark spoke up.  
“Well, Detective Reed’s way is being more of an asshole then usual, but i wouldn’t have wanted to Deviate any other way.” Even his voice had changed, sounding partly like the detective’s with only some of his original voice tuning. Ark turned to Connor, his face dropping to a more serious demeanour. 

“I take it you got the file from Captain Fowler too?” Connor nodded.  
“I wonder who was kidnapped the it could endanger the current peace…” Hank gapped towards Connor.  
“You didn’t tell me it could be this bad!” The RK800 just shrugged. 

The attention from all four was caught by the opening of the door to Captain Fowler’s office. Out stepped Perkins, followed shortly by the Captain himself. Perkin’s grouper back up with other FBI officers (after a quick, slightly frightened glare to Hank), while Fowler wandered over to the 2 humans and 2 androids.  
“Thanks for getting your asses here so early-“ a quick nod from the Captain, “-and I know you all are wondering who is so damn important that the fucking FBI has gotten involved,” he cleared his throat, and Connor’s synthetic heart plummeted to his Thirium Pump. 

“Markus is missing.”


	3. Jericho and Lafayette Avenue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jericho is a place he tries hard to avoid. With a human, things get harder.  
> Hopefully things are more successful at the crime scene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BOI  
> I’m sorry for the long wait! I got busy with school stuff and what not (moving to freshman year/year 9). Anyways, I only was able to get this beta read halfway through, so if there’s any mistakes, don’t hesitate to tell me! Also, the font changer stopped working so some of the Android thinking might be a little off, sorry! >< Ok? Baiiiiiii~~~

Hank was the first to break the heavy silence.  
“What. The fuck..” Fowler responded with a solemn nod. He had briefed them on the case, or rather what little was there. Markus had disappeared the night before; saying he was visiting his ‘father’, but when someone had come to check on him they had found a total disaster. 

Connor felt the same sinking feeling from the revolution. All the way through his bio components.  
..Dread?

Detective Reed cleared his throat, breaking the newly formed silence again.  
“So that’s why the feds have stuck their noses in. And why the press are tearing off each other’s asses to get in.” Another nod. The Captain moved back over to his office. Perkins decided that this was the best time to wander over, in all his smug glory. God, it took all to Connor’s willpower to not break his crooked and purple nose.  
“As much as I despise the lot of you, I have no choice but to work alongside you and your androids.” He turned towards the two, grimacing. Seemed like his opinion on their kind hasn’t changed. 

Connor kept a straight face. His LED span.

Hank was glaring at the FBI officer, stepping a fraction of an inch in front of Connor.  
“Hey Asshole, they are not ‘ours’, not as objects. Of course, you and your egotistical brain wouldn’t know the difference if you tried,” Hank’s voice sounded humorous, but Connor knew better. Perkins was one wrong step away from pain. The Android put a reassuring hand on the other’s shoulder, sending a look towards Ark. The other nodded. 

This could get ugly very quickly if we’re not careful.

Connor’s LED swirled yellow. Processing. Answering…

Calm down Detective Reed. I’ll take care of Hank.

Ark‘s LED blinked back to blue, tugging on the Reed’s arm slightly. He directed the almost fuming human towards the break room. Mission Accomplished.

Now Hank. The Android turned towards him, lifting his hand off his shoulder. Connor dropped his voice one-point-five octaves, blinking slowly.  
“As much as his face is punchable, Lieutenant, it would be in our best interest if we focused solely on the task at hand.” Hank huffed, knowing deep down Connor was right. As much as the fucker needed to know his place, being sent on leave now wouldn’t be the best choice. Turning away, the lieutenant strode over to his desk, an Android trailing behind him. 

This was gonna be a long case.

———————————————-

“Here we are. New Jericho,” Hank announced as he cut the engine.  
It had been a while since Connor had been to New Jericho (donated by the government as an apology for sinking the old ship). Apart from right after the revolution, he had tried to stay away Jericho all together. It didn’t feel right at the time. It still didn’t feel right in the present, but the case was more important than his own wants and feelings. Still.. it didn’t break the unknown feeling in his Thirium Pump. Hank seemed to be on edge as well. Also made sense. New Jericho wasn’t a place for humans to come and go as they pleased. Having a Human join Connor inside will definitely draw in some attention.

Pushing the quarter back into his pocket, Connor stepped out automatically, taking in the fenced apartment buildings. Striding forward, the feeling inside him only grew worse as he pushed past a group of protestors to be allowed inside. Hank did have to fend off some of the anti-Android activist with an elbow, sharply calling in for a team to help out with the clean up. Straightening out, the police duo walked up to the main building and knocked.

———————————————————-

The inside was havoc.  
Most of the android were in panic, others trying to calm said androids down. Connor’s scans showed their stress meters, and it didn’t tell him anything good. Some meters climbed higher at the sight of the two. It probably wasn’t the best idea to wear police uniform in a building with stressed out deviants. Connor looked over the crowd of Androids in the lobby, feeling…. something. Akin to the feeling he felt at Kamski’s. What had Hank said? Empathy? Sort of like that. 

“Connor!” His head snapped up. Rushing past the androids, along with a series of excuses, the familiar face of Josh met up with them. His scans weren’t all that favourable either.

Stress Level: 78% and decreasing.

“I’m so glad you’re her-“ he stopped, finally noticing Hank. Josh narrowed his eyes at him. Hank avoided eye contact, physically looking uncomfortable. Josh turned back to Connor. “Why did you bring a ‘human’?” He hissed, looking over at the over stressed androids. Then to Hank, and then back to Connor. 

Stress level: 76% and rising.

Connor kept the calm façade, rolling his shoulders into a more professional position.  
“Hank is my partner, and we are investigating this case. We would like to speak with all three of you,” he stopped, “Somewhere away from prying eyes.” Hank turned towards the small group of androids looking at them, shifting around from foot to foot. Josh sighed, nodding and leading them away.

————————————————————

Considering the situation, it probably would have been more rational to find Simon curled up on the floor of the room. Instead, he was sitting upright, stilly staring off into the middle-distance. North was beside him when the two walked in with Josh, trying her best to get some sort of reaction out of the PL600 android. Connor’s scans showing his stress was higher than the rest of Jericho, as Josh joined him back on the floor. 

Stress Level: 89% and rising.

North perked her head up, eyeing Connor before turning towards Hank. Her eyes narrowed, much like Josh’s did, before speaking.  
“What is a human doing in Jericho..?,” she sneered. Appears she still hated humans. A traumatic experience? Hank shifted again, clearing his throat.  
“If you would like, I can wait for you in the car Conn-,” Connor cut him off with his hand, looking calmingly at North. He chose his words carefully, his original programming kicking in slightly.  
“He is my partner, and we are a few of the officers responding to this case. All we would like to do is ask you three a few simple questions. Lieutenant Anderson will be staying here.” And that was he end of that.

Connor crouched down, facing the Android named Simon. From what Markus had told him, he was one of the first Jericho members. Technically, that would mean he was the leader before Markus came. His still-attached LED was blinking a fast, furious red. Connor scanned it, his program telling he had to be careful. He put on a reassuring smile, making sure of no sudden movements. Simon looked up from his curled position, Josh’s hand still half-reassuringly half-protectively on his back. A blink of yellow appeared on the PL600’s LED before settling back to red. His artificial skin was stained with large artificial tears.

Stress level: 92% Self Destruction Possibility: High.

Objectives: [calm down Simon] [interrogate for information]

“Hello Simon,” he started, keeping his voice light and even, “I understand you being bombarded with feelings at this moment, so I’ll only ask some Yes/no questions. Does that sound easy enough?” Simon nodded slightly, still seemingly… far off. Connor needed to calm the PL600 down, before something irreversible happened. He crouched down to Simon’s level.

“Are you ok?”

That question seemed catch the Android off guard, but he seeming shook it off with a shrug. Not the answer he was hoping for, but better than nothing. Connor mimicked a more soothing voice, hoping for some type of reaction from Simon.  
“I’m going to ask you a few questions is that ok?..” no action apart from the slight movement of the head. Connor continued on. The questions were ones he had asked multiple people time and time again. “Did you see the victim on the night he disappeared” another nod. “Are you close with the victim?” A more hesitating nod. Huh. He offered a reassuring smile when the Android looked a little less willing to speak.

Happy that his stress meter had gone down a couple of percentages, the RK800 looked over to his partner. Hank still stood off to the side, albeit a little awkwardly. Standing up, Connor left Simon alone and moved over to North. She seemingly tried to look cold, though the impact was lessened by the concern on her face. He asked what Markus was doing on the night he disappeared.  
“He has told us he was going to visit his father. He’s usually contact us when he had gotten there, but we got nothing for the rest of the night. The rest is history.” Connor was mildly confused. Androids don’t have biological fathers, or family in general, and yet… the bond an seemed somewhat familiar. He shook it off as unimportant. Connor nodded, asking a few more questions and nodding in thanks. Striding over to a still-uncomfortable looking Hank, he spoke softly.  
“I have gotten everything from here. We should get going to the crime scene to meet up with Ark and detective Reed,” A nod. They wished the best of luck to the leaders, taking their leave. Upon stepping into the car, Hank let out a dry chuckle

“What’s so funny, Lieutenant?” The man sighed.  
“Nothing, just the fact that this case is gonna be like shoving a stick up your ass.”

———————————-

They walked into Carl Manfred’s home of residence to the sound of a screaming detective, followed shortly by the calm voice of Ark.  
“ARK WHAT THE FUCK? STOP PUTTING THE EVIDENCE IN YOUR MOUTH! THAT’S DISGUSTING!” A few dramatised gagging sounds.  
“I am merely sampling the blood types, dipshit. I can scan them in real time without having to wait several days. Though you should know this already, detective.” When Hank and Connor walked past the holotape and into the mansion, they are greeted by both a humorous and horrifying scene. A medical Android (along with a considerable amount of Thirum 301) was slumped against the wall as Ark was crouched next to them (Something stirred in his stomach at the sight of the dead android. He’s have to ask Hank later). Detective Reed was a few feet away, looking at the RK900 palely. Seems he and Hank have something in common. Hearing the pair walk inside, Ark looked up (Detective Reed giving still giving him a look like he’d grown multiple heads). Hank joined Detective Reed, while Connor padded over towards the RK900. His scans showed multiple signs of a break-in, but no fingerprints as of yet. His scans showed multiple kinds of thiruim, some belonging to to the medical android in front of them. An unopened present was on the table. Ark filled him in with a quick connection. So far, the only bodies here are of Carl Manfred and his previous medical android, but there are traces of RK200 thiruim. Meaning Markus was, at some point, here. There was also no fingerprints, which suggests android involvement. Connor, thanking Ark for catching him up, moved upstairs into what appeared to be Carl’s old bedroom. The deceased man himself laid on the bed, partly covered by a body sheet. Connor pulled it back.

Ex-Painter. Born July 13, 1963, deceased as of July 13, 2039. Connors LED flashed yellow. He frowned. It was his birthday.  
It cycled back to cyan.  
His heart showed no signs of cardiac arrest, and no stab wounds were visible on his body. That information, along with hand-shaped bruising on his neck, screamed Asphyxiation. So the offenders choked Carl manfred to death. Seemed like any normal murder…. But something felt off. It felt to coordinated to be any sort of petty thief or murder. Connor walked back out. Downstairs, Detective Reed and Hank were discussing something. Ark patiently listened, turning towards Connor as he approached. 

“This house was alarmed,” the RK900 android supplied, “which points to the perpetrators having some sort of preparation. An EMP could’ve been used. Either that, or Carl knew the perpetrators and let them in.” Connor nodded in agreement. That seemed like the only plausible outcome.  
“Did you find anything else on the android?” Ark’s LED span.  
“No, but you are still welcome to look.” Ark stepped aside, letting Connor pass and continued listening to the detective and lieutenant. He crouched down next to the medical android, scanning.  
Left eye component: missing. Right leg component: Missing. Left leg component: Missing Thiruim pump missing. LED: Missing. Thiruim 301 levels: 2% and decreasing.  
A notification popped up.  
IMPOSSIBLE REACTIVATION  
This was going to make things harder. Without a witness, the team only has the evidence available to them. Connor focused his scanning power onto the left eye socket. There appeared to be something inscribed in there. A circle with two lines crossing diagonally, with a triangle in the middle of it all. Interesting. He added it to his library. Hank strode over to Connor, hands stuffed into his pockets. He cleared his throat.  
“Find anything?” he asked, moving back to let Connor stand upright. Connor sighed.  
“Not much more then Ark. Though, he didn’t mention the insignia in the eye socket.”  
“Huh..” Hank crouched down, peering into the eye socket. “Don’t know what ‘insignia’ you’re talking about. There's nothing but blue blood in there.” Connor looked at his partner in puzzlement. He was sure his scans showed him that… didn’t they? Was in program malfunctioning? He did diagnostics every night. Nothing came up then. Just to be sure, he ran a surface scan.  
AI programing: FUNCTIONING  
Memory Function: OK  
Bio components: OK  
Program Instability Detected: NOTIFYING CYBERLIFE…  
.  
.  
CONNECTION FAILED.

So far, nothing came up. So why could only he see it? Connor shook his head. He’d dwell on it later. Returning with the others, he listened in on the current conversation.  
“-appears we have everything from here. We can review the evidence at the station,” Hank stated, already heading for the door.  
“I’ll be there in a second, lieutenant.”  
Hank mumbled in replay, calling out from outside, “I said to call me Hank!” Then he was gone. Connor smiled at Dt. Reed and Ark.  
“I'll be gone in a second. I just need to ask Ark something. If thats ok, Detective Reed.” He nodded, the detective walking into the main room, next to the entrance. Ark turned towards Connor.  
“What is it you would like, Eight?” the mention of the nickname made him smile.  
“I just wanted to ask.. Did your scans show an insignia inside the eye socket of the deactivated android?” Ark tilted his head sideways.  
“No. It only showed the parts missing, thirium levels, the normal scannings. Why?” Now Connor was even more confused. Even his successor found nothing on it? Maybe he was malfunctioning. He shook his head as if to clear it, as unnecessary as the movement was, waving his goodbyes to the two and heading for the door. He pulled the coin out, flicking it over his knuckles, spinning it on the top of his finger as Connor stepped into the manual car. Connor could still not understand how Hank still used a car that needed a driver, though he guessed that’s Hank for you. 

Hank turned the key on the ignition, turning towards Connor with a stern look.  
“I’m getting Chicken feed on the way back, and there’s nothin’ you can do to stop me. Got it?” Connor nodded, though visibly frowned.  
“Lie-“  
‘I told you to call me Hank!’  
“Hank, as much as I know you like so called ‘comfort food’ when you have a particular stressful case, but I must advise you not to buy take out. We have food at home, and it’s bad for your health” Hank grunted a response, pulling out of the richer neighborhood.  
“Yeah? Well I don’t give a fuck.” His words were clipped, but held no malice.


End file.
